by Jamie Loeak
Kate started. “Wait,” she said, stopping him before he could jump out. “How do you know he won’t come back now, or even later? What am I supposed to do about it?”
“Be careful and don’t talk to strangers, especially at night.” With those words, Rico departed, leaving Kate questioning what kind of advice that was supposed to be. She knew better than to talk to strangers, especially at night. What kind of an idiot did he think she was?
Chapter 5
The next morning Kate slept in. She was glad that her mother and father didn’t bother coming up to wake her; that was the first night that she had been able to sleep since moving to Florida, and she knew that they would have ruined her much needed rest. Kate didn’t wake until well after the sunrise. When she did, the memories of her conversation with Rico flooded back. Images of demons and humans, Light and Darkness, and right and wrong swirled through her thoughts.
Kate rose and was shocked to see the glass and blood that littered her bamboo floors. She had almost forgotten the worst part about the night before. The demon, the one that she had never seen, frightened her. How long would he pursue her? How could he scare her so much when she had never seen him?
Kate spent most of the morning and afternoon cleaning up the mess in her room, taking careful pains to make sure that everything was spotless. After that, she shut her window, along with all the others in the house, and turned on the air conditioner; her parents would have to deal with it being on all the time because she was not giving any demon an invitation to come in and possess her.
As Kate cleaned she thought about how easily it was for her to believe Rico’s story, and wondered why. It should be an impossible thing to believe, knowing that science was incorrect, that a lot of what she learned in school consisted of untruths. Somehow, though, she sensed that he told the truth. First, the man had been incredibly strong; his arms had held Kate captive against her will. Kate knew that she wasn’t stronger than a fully grown man, but she should have been able to struggle in his arms. He had held her still, so tight that her breath had escaped her chest, until Kate had managed to hit his head with hers. Second, Kate didn’t think that Rico’s imagination could paint an intricate story within minutes. She knew that Rico wasn’t stupid; she could tell by the way that he spoke and carried himself. However, Kate didn’t think that it was possible, for even the best storyteller, to come up with a lie so elaborate.
Kate’s mind drifted back to Rico. She remembered the way his eyes kept finding hers in order to make sure that she wasn’t scared out of her wits. She remembered the way his voice sounded when he told the story, informative, yet sad at the same time, like it hurt to tell the truth. She thought about his endless eyes, a blue that she had only seen on the covers of animated princess films. Kate allowed herself this once to fantasize about his intentions, imagining that he was a hero and she was a damsel in distress.
The afternoon passed by quickly; Kate was consumed with cleaning and working through her thoughts. It wasn’t long before her parents came home with dinner, a gourmet meal consisting of baked chicken and white rice mixed with spinach in a buttery cream sauce. Kate sat at the table immersed in pleasant conversation with her mother and father, and for a moment, Kate forgot about the demon that lurked around outside.
“Why are the windows closed, darling?” Aaron asked after dinner.
“I’m too hot to sleep at night. The summer weather is beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but I can’t seem to fall asleep. I’ve tried it out, I promise, but it doesn’t work. I’m sorry,” Kate said. She felt bad for having to say this to her father. She figured her mother would have been the one to ask her, and the speech she prepared for her mother was much more snarky.
“That’s ok, Kate. To be honest, it’s hard for me to sleep. The breeze coming off of the ocean in Australia was much cooler, somehow.”
“Thank you, Dad. I appreciate you letting me do this,” Kate said kindly.
Blaire had just sat there, listening to the conversation without a word. Kate imagined that she would complain to Aaron about it after Kate left the room. Kate did leave the room, unsurprised to hear her mother’s whispers as she ascended the stairs for bed.
The sun shone brightly the next afternoon, beating down on Kate’s tanned body. She sipped peach lemonade and read another juicy vampire story, waiting for her skin to bronze and sparkle. The story made Kate feel giddy, almost as if vampires could be real since demons obviously were.
Kate hadn’t seen Rico in almost two days, and she was beginning to feel like it was all a dream. If Rico hadn’t really come into her room the other night, did that mean that she had never been attacked? Kate liked the odds of this, and leaned back in her chair, imagining that none of it happened. She was just getting to a good part in her daydream when she heard soft footsteps behind her, coming her way.
Kate turned to see an old man carrying equipment; he looked to be about sixty-years old, and had dark grey hair. His smile was friendly and warm, like his hazel eyes. He shuffled when he walked, dragging his legs across the sandy ground like it hurt too much to lift them up.
“Excuse me, Miss. Do you mind if I spray the plants inside and out?” he asked, his voice a slow southern drawl.
Kate nodded, and pointed toward the back door. “It’s already open,” she said. “You can walk right in.”
“Thank you. I’ll go on and head on inside first, Miss, if that’s okay.”
Kate nodded and watched as the gardener hobbled up the steps. She smiled, thinking about how adorable he was.
Kate decided that it was time to abandon her thoughts; it was too dangerous to get caught up in things that weren’t real. There was a demon chasing her. There wasn’t any time to contemplate what her life would be like if he wasn’t, because he was.
Kate stood up and walked to the edge of the ocean; she let her feet sink into the sand as the water ran over its smooth surface. The waves splashed against her warm skin, cooling her off. She let the water trickle over her body, taking with it all thoughts of demons. Kate played with the waves for a while, letting them chase her and then tackling them afterwards. She enjoyed the carefree atmosphere of their quiet, private beach and felt safe.
Kate walked back up to her beach chair a little later, water dripping from her hair. She was ready to continue lounging around, even though she buzzed with energy. She glanced at the house, wondering why she never saw the old man leave; she had been in the water for at least fifteen minutes. Kate was about to go and make sure that the gardener didn’t leave without her noticing, when Rico strolled around the corner with his hands in his pockets, his eyes on the ground. He looked up, taking in Kate’s aquamarine bikini, and smiled appreciatively. Kate sighed inwardly and rolled her eyes, knowing that Rico, too, would notice her figure. She was tall and thin, with long legs and a tiny waist. Now that her skin was kissed by the sun, her lean muscles were defined.
“Is this what you’ve been doing all day?” Rico asked, walking up to Kate. “Running around in the sunshine?”
Kate smiled and pushed her damp hair behind her ear. “Pretty much,” she said.
“I don’t see why you would be outside when your parents are home, especially because you don’t get much time with them.”
“My parents aren’t home,” Kate said, confused.
“What?” Rico said, spinning around, his voice growing angry. He was now looking at the house, Kate the last thing on his mind.
Kate followed his gaze and wondered whether he had lost it.
“Who did you let inside?” he asked accusingly.
“What? It was just the gardener. Who do you think I let inside?” Kate asked, her voice accusing Rico, asking him why he thought she was so incompetent.
“What do you mean just the gardener? I told you not to talk to strangers. You don’t know who he is or what he’s capable of. You should have listened to me. I asked you to do one thing and you couldn’t even do that,” Rico said, his voice rising.
�
�What is the matter with you?” Kate asked.
“That man in there is what’s wrong,” Rico said, pointing at the beach house. “You don’t know who he is, whether he’s a human or a demon.”
“Are you kidding me? Am I supposed to be afraid of everyone now? Look, Rico, I pissed off one demon, but that doesn’t mean that they all are coming after me. There are millions of…”
“You don’t know that,” Rico said, interrupting Kate’s angry tirade. His voice was oddly calm, his face a mask of indifference. He stepped away from Kate, shoving his hands back in his pockets, looking into her stormy eyes, waiting.
“What?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
“I don’t know who that demon was,” Rico answered. “He could be important. He might not be. I didn’t get a good look at him when we fought the other night, but he wasn’t someone that I recognized instantly. We need to wait until we figure out who he is before we make any decisions. If it’s someone important, he could send others after you. Since we don’t know, Kate, you need to be careful.”
Now it was Kate’s turn to step back. “You never told me this,” she said, flashes of fear and anger burning her throat. Angry tears threatened to fall, but Kate managed to control her emotions. She thought about what they had spoken about that night, but there was no mention of the demon that attacked her. It seemed like Rico knew as much as she did about him, which wasn’t much at all.
She was still staring at Rico when the gardener walked back out of the house. He looked from Kate to Rico and smiled at the couple.
“I’m finished inside,” he said as he hobbled down the staircase. “You sure have a lot of plants in the house, Miss. Do you mind if I take a break and come back later to do the outside? You seem rather busy, and I’m pretty tired if I do say so myself.” The man was in front of Kate and Rico now, looking back and forth between them, probably sensing the raw emotion coming from both of them.
“Sure,” Kate said breathlessly. Her thoughts were far from the gardener, but slowly circled in when she realized what he could be.
“Thank you, Miss,” he said before turning to leave. “I didn’t mean to get caught up in y’all’s romance. I apologize.”
Kate watched as the old man shuffled away across the sand. He was far too fragile and adorable to be a demon. There was no way that Rico would be right about this man. She allowed her eyes to rest on the gardener for a moment longer before turning back to Rico. Kate watched his eyes pursue the old man until he disappeared around the end of the building.
“Well?” she asked.
“He’s human,” Rico said, sounding defeated.
“I told you that he wasn’t going to hurt me, Rico.”
“But he could have. And that’s all that matters. Don’t you understand that?” Rico asked her, truly wanting to hear Kate’s honest answer.
Kate sighed. Rico was right, though. In the end, that man could have been a demon; he could have invited Kate into her own house and possessed her. Kate knew that Rico’s comment rang from the truth within his words, but she couldn’t help but wonder why Rico cared so much about her safety. He was a stranger that had introduced her to this life because of a random attack. He had never been obligated to tell her the truth, but he had, and Kate was thankful. “Yes. You’re right,” Kate whispered. She looked at the ground when she spoke, almost as if she didn’t want to give Rico the satisfaction of being right.
Rico sighed then, and walked down to the water’s edge. Kate followed him, not wanting him to disappear for another couple days, only to show up and bark at her some more. They stood there for a while before either of them spoke, Kate trying to remain patient, Rico trying to calm himself down. Kate kept sneaking glances, watching Rico as he stared out into the endless blue-green of the ocean.
“You have to understand that I’m trying to make sure your parents don’t have to bury their daughter,” he said.
“I understand,” she claimed. “But I don’t understand why you care about my safety. I don’t understand what’s going on. I don’t understand why it’s happening. I do know that we may have never met, and I would be just like every other girl out there that’s not being saved by overprotective bad boys.”
Rico laughed but it sounded sad. “Overprotective bad boy? Is that what you see me as, Kate? If so, I might have to change my image, because that wasn’t the label I was aiming for.” He laughed again, and this time it sounded honest. Kate watched as he laced his fingers together and put them behind his head before speaking again.
“I met you, Kate. That’s what this is. You said it could be different right now, but it’s not. Meeting you is the reason I’m trying to keep you safe. I would do the same for Adriana, even your parents,” he said.
Of course, Kate thought. He would definitely save Adriana too. Kate crossed her arms, suddenly annoyed with Rico.
“You should go,” she said quickly. “It’s getting cold outside and I think I’m going to go in and get dressed. My parents and I are going in to Tampa tonight to grab dinner and go shopping. We’re going to be there for the whole weekend so you won’t need to hang out outside my window.”
Rico nodded and turned to leave. Kate stared, watching him just walk away without so much as a goodbye or see you later. Rico didn’t seem like the type of person to hate saying goodbye; he could have had any girl he wanted. Kate let her thoughts drift back to her last boyfriend, remembering their goodbye.
Kate had dated a senior during her freshman year. He had been a baseball player, with an excellent home run average, and a scholarship to a local university. His blonde wavy hair and blue eyes made him someone that all of the girls chased. Kate was lucky that she caught him, but realized quickly that he didn’t care about her like he did his friends or baseball practice. She had been one of the four girls he left when baseball season started up. It was a different freshman girl each year; they were the only ones that didn’t know about his schemes. They were the only ones innocent enough to fall for them, and they were the only ones that upperclassmen loved to see fall into the trap he created each year.
Kate blinked, and focused on something positive. She was going to get out of her small beach town for a couple days. She was going to be able to think about things that didn’t remind her of demons, Rico, or her safety.
Chapter 6
Kate walked up the front steps of the beach house a few days later, hands filled with shopping bags and her suitcase. She pushed open the familiar buttercup door and walked up to her bedroom, tossing everything on her bed. She walked back downstairs, eager to see the white sand and blue waves of her backyard beach.
Kate had enjoyed Tampa. She loved the large shopping malls, the beautiful houses and upscale restaurants. It was nice, being able to escape the turmoil of her days alone at the beach house. Now that she was back, she was glad to be here. She couldn’t imagine why people wanted to live in large, spectacular houses that were too beautiful to really live in, when they could find a quiet place on the beach somewhere.
The sand was waiting for her. The wind had erased Kate’s footprints while she was gone, leaving a fresh new canvas. Kate ran across the smooth surface, enjoying the feeling of moving her stiff muscles, laughing because she felt pure freedom in her ability to run with the waves.
“You look like you’re having fun,” Adriana commented.
Kate turned and smiled at Adriana. “I haven’t seen you in a while,” she replied. “How was your weekend?”
“Busy. My dad and I sold quite a bit of bait this weekend so I had to spend a lot of time driving back and forth, delivering larger and larger amounts because of the rush of people. What did you do this weekend?”
“I went into Tampa with my family. We shopped and checked out some sites, including the Florida Aquarium,” Kate said, rolling her eyes in Adriana’s direction.
“Well, it looks like we both got lucky this weekend,” Adriana said with a smile.
Kate looked at her and offered a smile in return
, understanding the meaning behind Adriana’s words. Both girls were lucky to have spent time with their families, since neither one got to very often.
Kate liked the sense of kinship she felt around Adriana. She had never found a girl that had the same feelings she had, and it was easy to trust her new acquaintance. She looked at Adriana then, taking in her dark features and ivory skin. Adriana wore a black bikini and a dark sheer dress to cover the exposed skin on her midriff. She was thin, like Kate, but shorter by about three inches. She carried wedges in her hand again, and Kate suspected that she didn’t like being small.
“Hey, I know you just got back, but I was wondering if you wanted to have a sleepover at my house,” Adriana asked. “I’m home alone tonight and don’t really want to stay by myself. Rico’s been pretty cryptic lately but he’s making it sound like it’s not safe around here anymore. Do you think your parents would let you stay?”
Kate blinked. Were the demons invading this small town? Or was Rico just making sure that Adriana stayed cautious like Kate? Whatever the reason, Kate was certain that Rico wasn’t kidding around with Adriana. He hadn’t been kidding around with Kate when he told her not to talk to strangers; in fact, she had been chastised for doing just the thing that he had asked her not to. Kate assumed that he hinted that Adriana sleep with a friend tonight.
“I think so,” Kate said, hoping that her parents would allow her to sleep over. She felt the sudden need to watch over Adriana, to protect her, like Rico protected Kate.
When Kate walked inside her house, her parents were dancing around the kitchen in a fit of romance. An idea burst in her mind.
“Hey, Mom, Dad, do you mind if I spend the night at Adriana’s house? She’s the girl that I went fishing with a couple days ago. I know you’ve been hanging around me all weekend, so I assume you want to be alone.” This had to work.
Kate’s mother turned to face her. “Of course, dear,” she said distractedly.
